CANINE ASTHMA. 129 



suffocation ; or the obstruction the blood meets with in its passage 

 through the heart occasions accumulation in the head, and con- 

 vulsive fits are the precursors of death. Now and then a rupture 

 of the heart or of some large bloodvessels suddenly destroys : but 

 by far the most common termination of the complaint is in dropsy, 

 or serous collections within the chest or belly, or both, but most 

 frequently of the latter. In these cases, the limbs and external 

 parts of the body waste, but the belly increases in its size ; the legs 

 also swell ; the hair stares; the breathing becomes very laborious ; 

 and, in the end, suffocation ensues. 



The morbid appearances^ on dissection, are by no means uni- 

 form, but in every instance they are considerable, particularly 

 within the chest. Adhesions sometimes first attract our notice; 

 next the substance of the lungs, which is occasionally emphyse- 

 matous from ruptured air-cells, and they slightly crepitate under 

 the touch. I have also found a muco-purulent extravasation 

 within the air-cells ; but the appearance most common to thera 

 has been, a total change of their natural structure into a granular 

 bluish mass. In some instances, a morbid translation of the ex- 

 ternal fat was found to have taken place from without, inwards ; 

 by which the diaphragm, large vessels, and the interstitial mem- 

 branes of the chest, becoming obstructed and overcharged with 

 adipose substance, the respiratory functions were at length totally 

 suspended. The abdominal viscera are often but little affected ; 

 occasionally, however, the mesenteric glands are enlarged, and the 

 liver almost without any bile ; and still more frequently the spleen 

 particularly has been found greatly enlarged and diseased. — See 

 Splenitis, Chronic, 



The cure of the disease is always a matter of much uncertainty, 

 and unless it be attempted in the first stages, and before visceral 

 injury has proceeded too far, the chances of complete recovery are 

 but small ; yet we may often palliate the symptoms. Artificial 

 habits, particularly those of want of air and exercise, with super- 

 abundance of food, being in nine cases out of ten the cause, it is 

 evident, that without these are in future rigorously and judiciously 



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